History

Cricket began to be played in Thame in the mid-1800’s, but the Cricket Club’s birth is generally accepted to be 1884, and organised cricket has been played in the town since this date, with suspensions in 1914-1919 and in 1940-1945.

The Club moved to Church Meadow, Thame in 1975, taking a lease from Oxfordshire County Council, and created the cricket ground and pavilion from scratch from the existing low-grade agricultural land and derelict farm buildings.

The Club grew from strength to strength after the move, and began to develop its coaching and training activities. It progressed through the Trinity League and then the Cherwell League, and has in the past fielded adult teams on Saturdays, Sundays and mid-week.

In 1998 a former professional cricketer was appointed as Club Coach to run the junior training sessions, and today over 100 juniors practice at the Club on weekday evenings during the summer. Each year we appoint an overseas player-coach to oversee the training programmes.

In 2007 the Club gained full Clubmark Accreditation. This is the Sport England national initiative for quality standards in voluntary club administration.

2015 was a landmark year for the club, winning the Cherwell League Division 1 in an unbeaten season and being promoted to the Home Counties Premier League (Division 2). This was topped in 2017 by a further promotion to the top league, the Home Counties Premier League Division 1, for the first time in the history of the club.

The Club is run by a General Management Committee of Club Members which includes Chairman – Matt Swain, Vice-Chairman – Angus Lachlan, Treasurer – Stephen Beard, General Secretary – Sally Patey and Facilities Manager – Jackie Phippen. There is also a parallel Junior Committee which deals with Under-18 matters. The Club has four Trustees and has published Annual Accounts and Club Constitution.

Did You Know?

Over recent years, the Club has received national recognition from a variety of sources:

Rob Andrew, a double Blue at Oxford University, notes in his autobiography that he was playing cricket at Thame when he was told he was selected for England at rugby for the first time.

The late Bill Frindall of Test Match Special commented on air on the spiral staircase leading to the scorebox at Thame’s pavilion, and noted that a good six at Thame would end up amongst the gravestones in the adjacent churchyard.

Andrew Strauss, the former England captain and former Oxfordshire player, was asked on air if he had ever been out to the first ball of a match. He replied sadly in the affirmative, ‘on a low, slow wicket at Thame’.